year over year. i think there is a shift in the where ceo's and the boardroom are committing to the economy finally. >> there is support for the equities markets as well. thank you. we are going to be "on the markets" again in 30 minutes. "market makers" is next. live from bloomberg headquarters in new york, this is "market makers" with erik schatzker and stephanie ruhle. >> recovery summer. april saw more jobs added than any month in two years. the report has important warning signs. >> steve wynn speaks. we will bring you my exclusive interview with the billionaire casino mogul. find out why he likes doing business in china more than the u.s. and what really happened with george clooney. >> angela merkel is in

washington for urgent talks with president obama. with eachalking other. the german chancellor and american president speak about an aggressive russia. we will bring it to you live at noon. >> welcome to "market makers." i'm stephanie ruhle. erik schatzker is out. i'm joined by the well manicured matt miller. cure ifd to get a mani you were going to be on set with me. >> it is friday. jobs day. the headline number is the best it has been in more than two years. payrolls rose by 288,000 in april, far more than estimated. unemployment dropped to its lowest level since before the collapse of lehman brothers. but there is a lot beyond the headlines. i want to bring in michael mckee.

you are the man who delivers the real deal. walk us through it. the headlines look great but the market is not excited. >> no champagne. the headline number is good but the details are not as good. that is why we are seeing markets back off from their initial excitement. a a tale of te -- it is tale of two surveys. we are coming back from the weather. the household survey, same measure,, the people were employed. we lost 73,000 jobs in that survey. more than 700,000 people leave the labor force with chuck drives unemployment -- which drives unemployment down. why are people not coming back and? discouraged workers feeling better about things. we did not see a rise in earnings. there still questions about how strong this is. one-month does not make a trend.

we had a good headline number, but does this mean we are getting better? >> it does raise the 12 month average back to 200,000. >> it does. but we have not had a lot of movement. we have to see if that is sustained. you want to see earnings starting to go up. if the household survey is telling us the labor market is slack, you are not going to see that. in thender if the drop labor participation rate means more people are retiring. that is the answer you typically lls, and more people are running into inheritances. >> if you know them, let me know. [laughter] >> that was a joke! a debate aboutn how much is discouraged workers and how much is people retiring. this is a big drop for one month. it is a surprise.

it has been calculated if we maintained the participation rate, the unemployment rate would have gone up to 6.8%. people did not, want to look for work. >> it dropped to the lowest fevel since 1978, before ste was even born. >> don't try to make up with me now. michael mckee giving us the real deal. in rick.bring he oversees almost $700 billion of fixed income investments at blackrock. what did you think of the number? people seemed excited at first. but labor force participation does not look good. >> it is a strong number. we had a tough first quarter in terms of the weather. growth is improving. you expect a stronger number.

we continue to hold to our view that you still have a structural problem with unemployment. we would argue monetary policy is not fixing it. a low rate does not help. the participation rate dropping. average hourly earnings being soft. what does it mean for markets? you're not seeing wage growth. better, but you expect it to be better at this point. >> what do you think about monetary policy? janet yellen has been in for a few months. do you feel positive on the action she has taken? >> yes. i think she will do a superb job. i also think keeping the funds rate at zero is not going to improve implement. -- improved employment. with growth picking up, we think that should happen.

within financial conditions should be part of the commentary going forward -- we think financial conditions should be part of the commentary going forward. you're not getting wage pressure of significance. they will stay for a longer time. that has challenges. good grades, but i think it has to evolve. >> do low rates discourage hiring? >> i think so. excessively low interest rates does not necessarily improve the l acceleration rate of employment. people 55 and above are staying in the workforce longer because they cannot afford to retire. you don't create enough velocity of employment. >> they are in better shape. they are healthy. they are not old anymore. >> no doubt. but you take the trend rate of that and think about what has happened since the crisis, we have taken a new leg in terms of not retiring. >> you will live until you

are 90, so you might as well work. >> you cannot retire because your income if not -- is not significant enough. to not get real visibility on the economy because it is being stimulated monetary policies. >> that stimulation is coming out the tune of $10 billion a month. it will be gone in four months. janet yellen said we will raise rates. doesn't look like 2015 it will be going up again? >> absolutely. i think you can get there faster . i think you can move it up without causing debilitating effect on the economy. >> not shocking the markets. c.e.o.'s affect the economy? they can innovate, hire, and cha

nge. >> your incentive to buy back your stock, think about the business risk you take. think about how you can drive your etf's by buying back shares. global as we are in this gdp growth, you wait and buy back stock. by normalizing, can we be at a 1% funds rate? i think the fed will make it clear the long rate -- long-term rate is lower than it has been historically. the yield curve can stay flat. long rates don't move up much. that is where we will be going. >> you have been a fixed income guy for three decades. >> almost. >> does it worry you we are bubbling up? when i look at the credit market and see how tight spreads are and how hot the deals are, it is

making me worried. >> it makes everyone worried. you think about where we are today. as long as you believe policy and today's number, if you easier,he ecb will be japan is easy, china is in easy mode. you have easy financial conditions around the world. it means you need to capture yield. it can go on for some time. that is why i think we can normalize rates in the u.s. faster. i do worry about the excesses building. because weo ask you are looking at pfizer trying to get over to astrazeneca, it seems lately every company is sitting on billions in cash outside the country.

they are not bringing it back in. when they do, they get blasted by the markets. >> i think you hit the point that is not getting enough play today. that, are a company like your incentive is to look at an effective tax regime. is why we have to shift from monetary to fiscal policy. ifow the money to come back it is spent on hiring. initiatives that continue to grow small business. if we don't get the fiscal policies, if you don't have that, companies are not consented -- incented. >> why would you not go overseas? there is no reason. >> what are you excited about besides tesla? rates, we think

growth will be better and interest rates will go higher. there is money to be made in the fixed income markets. you can take advantage of opportunities around the world. there are places to make money in fixed income. think about emerging markets. it created tremendous opportunity with countries performing well. commercial mortgages are still interesting in the u.s. because you did not have this flood of money like the credit markets. we think there is money to be made there. you have got to be tactical and aggressive. there's still money to be made in fixed income. you have to manage it differently. >> a pleasure. thanks for joining us. we are going to take a break. when we come back, ukraine strikes back. troops are trying to recapture the city taken by pro-russian rebels. >> a clash of the titans in

vegas. george clooney versus steve wynn. steve wynn told me what their showdown was all about. >> don't tell anyone! onthis is "market makers" bloomberg. ♪

>> overseas, ukraine forces are on the offensive tried to take back territory currently controlled by pro-russian separatists. is government in kiev ignoring demands from vladimir putin to pull back troops. merkel meets with president obama today at the white house to talk about the situation. i want to bring in ryan.

he has been covering the conflict since it began. we are hearing about an n. meeting.ou anu.m. >> it is getting serious. it is being held at russia's initiative. they requested the meeting. russia saying they find what has taken place in easterner crane today to be disgusting, a punitive operation. they are referring to a ukrainian military operation that began before dawn local time in the east of the country to recapture a city held by separatists. it started with military helicopters going in, which were almost immediately shot down. at least one we can be sure were shot down. at least one pilot killed. one pilot was captured by separatists. russian television has been showing video they claim is of

the pilot captured by separatists getting medical assistance. it is not just the one pilot now captive in the separatist stronghold. there are at least eight foreign military observers froin slaviansk. this situation is heating up. ukrainian forces still on the outskirts of the city with the separatists on the inside. fighting is still underway. >> we always think about oligarchs when we think about putin and russia. what about ukraine? alsoe been hearing kiev relies on oligarchs for defense funding on the eastern border. >> that is a good point. in part that is true. the ukrainian central government does not have resources clout in the

east of the country to deal with the conflict. oligarchs themany mayors and governors of the east of ukraine. they are funding this in many ways, the push back. the central government in ukraine is keen on keeping them on their side and not being co-opted by the russian side, which is also interested in them cooperating with it. >> thank you for giving us the latest. eastern, we are going to hear from president obama and german chancellor angela merkel in a joint news conference from the white house rose garden. you can watch it here on bloomberg t.v. or our life events channel. alwaysident obama is late consistently for every

press conference. but angela merkel is punctual. will they balance each other out? >> and he will follow her lead -- hopefully he will follow her lead. >> you can tweet us your bets. >> coming up, a new documentary takes aim at america's sweet tooth. eating sugar may become socially unacceptable. stay with us. you're watching "market makers." ♪

i should you go, remind our audience how special this place is during the commercial breaks. it is fantastic when we are live. we need a webcam.

do you have any idea what we were just discussing? >> back to the show. of bestie rates have skyrocketed over the past three decades. -- obesity rates have skyrocketed over the past are decade. a new documentary points the finger at sugar. it has a roster of physicians and food writers. julie hyman got a sneak peak of "fed up" which comes out one week from today. >> the obesity rate is about 36%. 69% of americans are overweight. >> 70% of americans are overweight. >> yes. the film also talks about people who do not necessarily bad but have fat around their organs, which can be dangerous. skinny on the outside and sat on the inside. >> i maybe that way myself. >> if you look at what happened

in the early 1980's when research started coming out that things-that were bad for you, the food industry started offering more low-fat choices. the problem is if you strip a product of fact, you also strip it of taste. to compensate for that, they boosted the amount of sugar. also when1980's is you started to see the obesity epidemic the cup -- pick up. it has skyrocketed until today. fitness club memberships have gone up at a high rate. ing anody is exercis counting calories. >> they have joined the gym. i don't know that they are exercising. >> the contention is when you see low-fat products, they tend to be high in sugar. they may say healthy, but they still have high sugar. this isg to the movemenie,

why we are seeing the huge spike in obesity rates. >> are we going to see any takeaways? is it just an excuse for product makers to come out with more stuff? >> probably. the filmmakers want people to make changes and for it to be a bottom-up approach. couricurck -- katie spoke about the film yesterday. >> maybe this will be a bottom-up approach. people will see it and make changes in their daily lives. they will get angry about the fact we are swimming upstream when it comes to many issues, and they will try to motivate their elected officials to do something about it. >> she is a producer. she is also the narrator. truthis an inconvenient kind of film. she was the producer of "inconvenient truth."

the hope is people will start cutting sugar from their diet. >> should they come after regulators? numbermichelle obama's one missions is to get people active and healthy. where do the regulators fall? >> they ok what is on shelves. they also subsidize the farming industry and food industry. the usda is the regulator for the health food industry. at the same time, it is a promoter of the food industry. the film contends this is a conflict of interest. >> it makes sense. it is great to be able to point the finger somewhere. youou live in new york, don't see as much obesity as the middle of the country. i'm sure everyone has noticed that. it is shocking. you cannot miss it. we eat just as much sugar as everyone in the middle of the country, right? >> i don't think we do in new

york city. >> think about how much we have lost. if you live in detroit, you are walking to your car. we have to take a commercial. when we come back, more with steve wynn. ♪

live from bloomberg headquarters in new york, this is "market makers" with erik schatzker and stephanie ruhle. >> i'm stephanie ruhle. here for erik schatzker. >> he is fly fishing. am i allowed to say that? he is on assignment. >> steve wynn runs one of the largest casino empires in the world. he is worth $3.1 billion. as recently as 2005, nearly all of his resort revenues came from

his las vegas business. with sin city slowing, it is all about macau. i caught up with him for an interview. i want to start with what he had to say about why there's so much to be made in asia. >> the opportunity in the cal is cauterrific it makes -- in ma it makes other things looked less than terrific. it is true we are primarily a chinese company. that is probably going to look even more so as our third hotel is being completed in the next 18 months. there will come a point where the ratio of domestic to chinese earnings is even greater. .> you are the first in macau thatave a new project could cost more than $3 billion.

do you worry you will saturate the asian market when the chinese economy is slowing? >> in the last three or four macau havehotels in been steadily increasing in earnings in spite of the fact the amount of casinos has nearly doubled. our competitors have built a beautifulnew -- built new well-thought-out projects, yet we are still growing. the market has been expanding at a rate that has allowed the market to add supply because demand has exceeded it. everybody is experiencing growth year over year in spite of the fact the amount of enterprises have increased. palace started the wynn several years ago and it will be 2015, we at the end of

anticipated the market would grow adequately for us to prevail and have a good business. i want to add the government of macau made it clear they were capping the amount of tables allowed in the market. they were not going to permit unregulated growth. they were going to control and hold down the amount of tables added. they wereit clear going to allow growth and expansion to move in step. they were not going to allow ambitious developers to run wildly ahead. that happened in las vegas. >> is the government easier to work with here? >> the government is more predictable and china than in the united states. the government in nevada is very easy to work with because we are the industry in the town. gaming and tourism is everything

in nevada. the political environment is extremely friendly and understanding of that industry. the federal government in the united states is more unpredictable and unfriendly to business than china. , as counterintuitive as it may be, it is absolutely true. you can ask any american businessman in both places. >> as an american businessman, you have housekeepers to executives. how is the rollout of healthcare.gov as well as the pressure to increase minimum wage affecting your business and consumer? >> half of my employees belong to the restaurant and culinary workers union. the other half are being insured by me, by the company. since the affordable care act began to come into effect over a year ago with children up to 26

years old, my insurance costs for nonunion employees increased by 43% last year and will another in september by 43%. the unions -- >> is that going to kill american business? that is totally irrational for the same program we are paying 43% more. it is because the government has impetuously, without thought and ped into this area of extremely technical information. everybody that is a health care provider could have been happy to explain how we could lower health care costs and the government could be helpful. none of that was ever asked for were given. instead, we got 2700 pages of the worst single piece of

legislation in my lifetime. >> does it make you not want to do business in the u.s.? want to change administrations and get more thoughtful leadership in washington. >> when i think about who is in vegas right now, gambling profits are still down. is it turning into an entertainment talent? -- is it turning into an entertainment town? does it cost you more money? >> yes, no, and no. in the last decade or more, there has been a steady increase of non-gaming attractions in las vegas that were not there before. people today can have the choice of more restaurants, more shopping, more of everything than before. the proportion of non-gaming revenue to gaming revenue has changed because there have been

more non-gaming offerings available to the public. casino revenue, american casino revenue is the same and has not grown in the last eight years because of the proliferation of gaming around the united states. las vegas has prospered anyway or at least survived because of the increase in international business. allof the emerging nations, those countries have increased visitation to las vegas. the growth in las vegas has come my companyming and has been growing in gaming every year from international business. >> we did that interview in los angeles --and las vegas. you have read about it in the

gossip columns. we will here what really happened with steve wynn and george clooney when they went at it in vegas. tequila was involved. i will have more in my interview next. stay with us. ♪

>> welcome back to "market makers." more of my interview with billionaire casino mogul steve wynn. thecided to take conversation in a different direction and ask about some of his favorite memories of the vegas titans. >> frank sinatra and dean martin working weekends in atlantic city. my job was to fly them to atlantic city on my plane and bring them back to l.a. sunday night. deanhree years, frank and showroom.ests in my they were cutting up and raising hell, and i got to hang out with them. that eclipsed everything i have

ever done. making a commercial with them and hanging out with them was the most fun. >> would you say they are the coolest guys you have ever met? >> yes. they were unbelievable together. frank sinatra doted on dean martin. dean martin was a natural laid-back witty guy. he said funny things. he had a funny attitude towards the world. so not sure a doorjamb. they were not -- frank sinatra adored him. they were noncompetitive personalities. >> i know you got into it with george clooney last week. does it hurt your feelings as an american businessman who lives the american dream when celebrities love to dog on the republican party who have not done their homework? do you feel they do not know what it is like to run a business here? >> they don't know what it is like to run a business. but it does not hurt my feelings.

artists, actors, people like that, they live in a strange bubble of their own. dled,are caught hold -- cod highly privileged. we are talking about successful performing artists. they live in a relatively small world. the people around them are solicitous and caring for them. that ise a worldview that everything should be given to everybody because everything has been given to them. if you run a business, if you are responsible for a lot of people, you come to grips with the reality that you have to have discipline. you have to protect the enterprise in order to take care of the employees. e, you cannot be wasteful or you jeopardize other people.

running a business gives you a defined inmpassion different terms than someone who thinks of themselves as generous who is in a different environment. real compassion and benefits to the working people of america will only take place as long as america is healthy. owe $18means we cannot trillion because that will cause the working people in america to suffer. crowd,ors, the hollywood they are understandably the victim of their own special prejudice. being in las vegas all my life, we know about the hollywood people. we love them anyway. george clooney is fun to be with. you just have to watch her timing. -- you just have to watch your

timing. he was a little into the tequila. but he is fun to be with. he is a good storyteller. >> who would you like to see run for president? >> good question. i think hillary clinton is going to run. she will be an interesting candidate. i think there are some republican governors that have country for jobs in their states. scott walker, chris christie, jeb bush did a great job in florida. i think the republican governors have shown you can take care of your citizens, be compassionate for your citizens, be fair to your citizens, and run the state wisely so the future is not jeopardized or impaired. i think that is the lesson we are going to try and convey hopefully whether you are democrat or republican. the great french political 1909sopher said around

that the american system of democracy will prosper until the moment the politicians discover they can bribe the electorate with their own money. we are now writing the people with borrowed money. it is a path to destruction. it will not help working people. it will not make for a better future for the people today. it will destroy them. >> i'm going to tell you something. i was impressed with steve went. he got in a fight with george clooney over the president. but when he talks about celebrities having these aggressive worldviews, saying they live in a bubble, they think everyone should get something for free because they get everything for free. it is interesting. >> interesting. some billionaires live in bubbles as well. pay paul, peter to you can count on paul. we are going to go from the

great french philosopher to akon. that is not a joke. >> why being a great performer is not enough in the music industry. will talk about the business with superstar akon. ♪

>> he is the artist known for a very famous song. has been aar akon businessman for 20 years. i sat down with him this week and asked how he made it so big. >> it was more of a blessing for me than anything. he gave me the opportunity to see myself from the other side. it was not the way i wanted to live the rest of my life. i created a plan to be successful in the music does this. my dad was a jazz musician.

>> how did you meet wyclef and lauren hill? >> i was a barber. i used to play my demos. someone they're connected us. clef said you should come be a part of it. that is when i started working in music. >> you had a 10 year plan. how did you implement it? people do not realize the business strategy behind it all. >> in the music business, business exists in that word. they often discount the business aspect of it. the reason why you have people y-z this we realize the business aspect and how integral

it is to your success. >> what is your first priority? business, producing music, performing? you have a song coming out. you are also a philanthropist. how do you define yourself? all of that is somewhat of a hustler. >> i am a born hustler. that is why i am at milken. it is fun. my main priority is the creative community. without music, none of these doors would have opened for me. as long as i can stay relevant and create new records and conscious -- constantly introduce the world to new artists, there will be business opportunities to take advantage of. >> the landscape has changed. the big labels have left our. it is all about content. how do you find new artists? you first brought gaga to the main stage.

>> that was a blessing. artists, you have to see them with your own eyes. you have to go back to the old way of thinking. you can find an amazing artist on youtube with 16 million hits, but you don't know if that person is ready for the business. how do they perform and handle the press? would've a represent? -- what do they represent? just because you click on it does not mean you like it. i like to reach out and touch the artist and offer that to the world. >> people are not buying traditional music. so much of it comes free or is stolen. do the artists need to be part of music festivals and be brands? it seems like everyone wants to be a brand. i don't know if that is possible. >> it is all of the above. there is no way you can be successful without a successful brand.

movement.like a it.have to be part of you know what i mean? a group they build that becomes the official brand that fuels opportunities for everyone under the brand. the brand is the key. you have to be a smart thinker when it comes to marketing. you have to figure out how that plays into expanding my brand. >> he is a businessman. thinks i could be great at twerking. >> i think you could, too. this could be one of those commercial break things we talk about. >> take a look. >> i like a lot of the records

out right now. records you would twerk to. [laughter] front like you wouldn't. talk was not there to twerking. he is there because he is partnering with the one campaign to bring power to people in sub-saharan africa. that is why he was at the conference. senegal.rn in he came here when he was nine. he had several different stints in jail. this hustler has become quite the businessman. >> very cool. he is a born hustler. that is why he is at the milken. >> pimm fox spoke to dolly parton. >> they said almost the same

thing word for word. >> they both think i would be good at twerking? >> i'm sure dolly parton does not know what that is. fox cold -- she told pimm people do not think about the word business in music is this. it is a business. akon said the same thing. he is 40? what am i doing wrong with my life? is interesting to hear this 40-year-old kid say the same thing as dolly parton who is 70 or 80? >> amazing is what she is. she is in my top five favorite artists. >> not in my top five. >> who do you like more? dolly parton or kenny rogers? and willie nelson. >> willie is 81. is back in akers"

moment. ♪

>> this is "market makers." front.ed president obama and german chancellor angela merkel find common ground as they confront vladimir putin. revenue thatsts beat estimates. we talk with the ceo. >> winner and still champion. espn is number one when it comes to charging cable operators. president how long

he can get this done. welcome back to "market makers." i am stephanie ruhle. i like to say i have my dream job. i think skipper does. >> running espn, although it is a lot of work. one common thread in the interviews we have been doing with a con -- akon, with steve wynn --this is not just fun. these guys are busting their humps. >> when you love what you do, you are willing to work that hard. it is one reason there is negative sentiment around wall street. the compensation change -- a lot of people realized the only reason they were there was for the money. youhat is your only reason, should -- >> if you are at espn, you are there because you love sports. >> we need to turn our attention back to the ukraine. the escalating situation has politicians around the world concerned.

in about 30 minutes, we will hear from president obama and chancellor merkel. there will be a joint news conference from the rose garden. to bring in white house correspondent phil mattingly, from the white house. it is crucial to have german support for any new sanctions. >> absolutely. we spoke to senior administration officials while on the trip to asia the president talk, and they feel comfortable with all of the g7 countries being together if they escalate sanctions even further, hitting defense, financial services, energy. the german business community is wary. their export market is about $50 billion to russia. of their cash goes to

russia. they are concerned about expansion of sanctions. like how much did she have to balance between the german business community and what she has to do for the country? isn't she walking a fine line? administration officials are keying on with this meeting. i want to make sure they can lock in the commitment that there will be unity going forward. i think u.s. officials understand that if they moved to that sanctions level, not every country is able to implement the same level of sanctions the u.s. well. it will be a little bit patchwork. if they have a commitment from everybody, it will keep them united. any type of fraction is a problem. >> we saw pictures of angela merkel looking at her cell phone, probably checking text messages the msa surely saw as well. is that going to be an issue, the fact that we spy on her? >> that is something that has not been solved. goes toy, angela merkel russia. they are concerned, the it ministration was enraged. she was.

she made an angry phone call to the president, we understand. the ukraine has helped mend this relationship. it was in a very bad place a few months ago because of edward snowden revelations. i think the expectation is, during the bilateral meeting, it will be brought up. isat least we know what she talking to vladimir putin about, right? >> not funny. bad joke. >> the more important thing is, chancellor merkel and vladimir putin have a good relationship. we worked together for more than a decade. they are talking more than once a week. their relationship, from the white house perspective -- the relationship with russia has started to dwindle. merkel's relationship is crucial to understanding where the russians are going. angela merkel has no idea what rightir putin is doing

now, but at least they are still talking. that is important. >> he knows what she is doing. >> you know what? you told that joke. >> he was stationed with the kgb. >> so many things come out of your mouth that you will regret regret.p -- will i shall let you know, your hair looks fantastic. for whitearts perfect house correspondents weekend. you look so good. we will be joining you again in 25 minutes, hearing from president obama and german chancellor merkel in a joint news conference from the rose garden. you can watch it on bloomberg tv or our live event channel. feed, ther the news top stories from around the world. he surprising jobs report for april. employers adding 288,000 jobs, the most in more than two years. the unemployment rate fell to

right now, but at least6.3%, a 5.5 ye. participation in the labor force is at the lowest rate since 1978. a rejection of the pfizer takeover bid. the company says the $106 billion offer failed to appreciate the value of drugs in pipeline.a's what have they got? astrazeneca is the second-largest drugmaker. and talk about bad timing -- the cost of lines has more than tripled in the last two months, just in time for the holiday that needs them most, cinco de mayo. limes are a key ingredient in margaritas. the problem -- a crop disease that forced prices up in mexico. that is the source of almost all the lines in the u.s. avocados are also expensive.

so cinco de mayo will be more expensive this year than ever before. >> you could eatqueso -- eat queso. quick that is true. q -->> that is true. questo is cheese, right? >> if that has you hankering for a lounge chair on a white beach, our next guest can help you, the ceo of online travel site expedia. they reported bookings up nearly 30%. studios.our what does this say about the economy? people are going back out there and taking vacations? >> before we talk about earnings, i want to take exception with the dream job. i think i have a better dream job and espn. watching a ballgame or sitting on a beach -- i think i would rather be on a beach. >> you have your dream job.

beach, sitting on the cooling off. who is using expedia now? consumers are coming to expedia in record numbers. looking's are up almost 30%. -- bookings are up almost 30%. over 20% domestically and going further. the travel business in general has come back very quickly since the great recession. right now, it seems go. >> your space is competitive. you are partnering with travelocity, who i would think would be your number one competitor. partnering with travelocity. we made significant investments in technology and supply a few years ago. i think that travelocity thought that, to the extent we powered their backend, looking to improve the experience for the

consumers, which is why we entered this partnership. so far, travelocity has been a terrific contributor to our growth. we hope it keeps going. >> because you have continued to do well, what does it mean for margins in the travel industry? are people not willing to pay full price anymore? >> i think consumers are getting smarter and smarter as more information is available, especially on the internet. we see the consumers are shopping more. often, they will come to expedia and buy a package. you can combine two different components and get a discount, which is pretty beneficial for consumers. we also see that consumers are looking for loyalty programs. we now have over 10 million loyalty members. they get a free night for every 10 day book. consumers are getting smarter. they are researching more. loyalty members. the more they research, the more powerful the internet becomes. that is good for business, going

forward. >> why does expedia need a broad social media presence? on would think if you put something out there, it is therefore consumers to complain for the whole world to see. >> i think you have to be on social media. sometimes, we get it right. it is painful to hear complaints, that i would rather be in a position to hear about complaints so we can do something about it. our customer service is at record levels. we are going to get 90 plus percent of it right, but once in a while we get it wrong, and i would rather know about it so we can fix it, and our customer service will get better. >> can we talk about your mobile lounge app? you have celebrities giving travel tips. get compedgine they everywhere they go. how did they advise the average joe on travel? maybe celebrity life

is a little bit different. certainly, celebrities can give advice on cool places they have gone. we see consumers very much interested in celebrities in general. what kind of close to they wear? travel is just an extension of that. with the mobile lounge app, you can also get free apps that will help you when you travel. a lot of reasons to come. we are trying to promote mobile, because it is a good product. it is win-win. like you are coming off a good quarter. what do you think the summer travel season will look like? staycation, people are looking to save money and stay home. thise going to see a shift summer? >> people are definitely traveling. we are looking at memorial day trends. 20%, yearings are up on year. air ticket buying is up 10%.

ticket prices are up five percent. consumers are going out there. they are clearly feeling better about themselves. you saw it in the jobs reports. they are spending. it does pay to book. otherwise, with occupancies, you may not get the good room. >> thank you for joining us. ceo of expedia, and no channel- dominates pay-tv like the one and only espn. sat down with their president, don skipper. ♪

>> the most valuable form of programming on earth, according to espn president john skipper, is sports.

he was discussing the high fees espn charged cable operators. i sat down with john skipper at the cable convention in l.a., with the topic of controversy over the l.a. clippers. we at espn had documented early issues with donald sterling, and good work in our housing about his practices in the city of los angeles. i think we will be putting too much of a burden on the players. >> is it a slippery slope? the one who said "slippery slope." will owners be looking over their shoulders? >> not if they do not do something reprehensible. guys -- you have to rely

on the good judgment of people in charge. >> you have a keen understanding of branding and advertising. do you think the clippers will lose advertisers? >> they did lose sponsors in the day or two afterwards. they are very conscious of their brands and reputation. , get outve learned quickly. what do they do to bring them back then get past this? time warner -- how does this consolidation affect you? >> we have a long-term contract with both time warner and contest -- can't comcast. our job is to create packages and great value. we will continue to do business

with them. >> when you look at what netflix has done, from an outsider perspective, what do you think? >> i think they have constructed a nice product. i said yesterday on the floor, we have a better product. it is our job to make sure we are delivering the product in

the best possible way. and i would remind people that they built their product on the infrastructure streamers built and the product programmers built. >> when people say, i am not paying this much -- where is the breaking point? >> it is what most americans choose as their first option for entertainment. it is 100 million people. i think it will continue to be 100 million people. we think it is still the best option for us. >> we know how valuable live sports are, so they are charging you more and more. the you come to a point where you say, i am not paying that much? is that what happened with the world cup? a blind option. you put your bid in an envelope. they looked at them. simple as that. we negotiate with our partners value, and turn around and negotiate with distributors for fair value. so far, that has worked well. >> do you think we are approaching a bubble? would you think about how valuable media rights are right now, do you start to look at the dodgers price and say, this has to give? >> we do not think in those terms. we think about our business and what we can afford to pay, how we think we create value with new services or products we launch, how we serve fans. we do not think of it. i try not to think about the word bubble. >> how do you protect your turf? it is a cable show.

-- things arel changing. how do you protect this extraordinary turf you have built? >> by creating the best possible weduct we can all stop -- can. our mission is to serve sports fans, and we want to be indispensable to them. we have college football playoffs, monday night football, the nba playoffs, which we are in the midst of. we make sure fans can watch on every device. we have been aggressive about that. we watched 80 new services since january 2013. content isy say king, sports is valuable. what is the next thing you would provide that we have not seen yet? >> there literally is something we are getting ready to provide. that is the new college football player system, which i think fans are going to love. ofwill be the first few days

january 2015, and we are very excited about it. >> would you like to have the olympics? >> sure, we would like to have the olympics. the olympics is also a methodology where you put a number in an envelope. we putre in switzerland, a number lower than nbc put. in how you seen a change athletes have become business people? not just magic johnson or michael jordan, but athletes are so much more than players on the field all stop -- or on the field. they own their own businesses. >> it is a shift. it is only a modest shift. to see more athletes take advantage of their stature and fame to go into business. you would love to see them take social sponsor ability. one of the things about the sterling incident that is nice is how many players stood up and were counted for, and suggested

responsibility, and suggested he was wrong. great that more players take advantage. that is a good thing. >> espn president john skipper. he was obviously talking about his business. notable people in the industry havedo not necessarily something to lose -- they see him stand up and speak about the clippers, support what other athletes have done, standing out -- it is pretty impressive. >> although literally everybody is on that side of the trade, right? >> he could say nothing. like that is true, i guess. have something to lose>> saying noth. we heard from mark cuban, but we have not seen that many team owners. and they are the ones who will make a decision. they said nothing. why? maybe this is a slippery slope.

not everyone is getting out and speaking. >> president obama something about it. german chancellor angela merkel -- i do not know her feelings on the clippers. but the to our meeting at the -- the two are meeting at the white house today. >> she is a great basketball player. >> that make sense. ♪

>> guess what time it is.

>> this is "market makers," with erik schatzker and stephanie ruhle. >> i am stephanie ruhle. >> i am matt miller, filling in on this early summer friday. we are waiting to hear from president obama and german chancellor angela merkel, meeting about the crisis in ukraine, which continues to get worse. hours ago, ukrainian troops entered an eastern city under control of russian separatists. i want to bring in the managing director of dragon capital, it in -- in ukrane.

is in betterev shape than the eastern borders. can you feel the tension in the capital as well? >> the situation in the capital is fairly quiet. obviously, we feel the ongoing tension throughout the country. the situation on the ground here is fairly quiet. the focus is very much on the east. of operatives present in the east right now from inside and outside the region. needless to say, they are not there just to satisfy their love of birdwatching or ecology. that is the situation right now on the ground. >> people are talking about the threat of a civil war. is that true? >> there is an ongoing operation right now, launched in the wee hours of the morning. thee has been a decision by

authority on the situation. said they president were facing more resistance than first anticipated. but the only thing we know right now is that the situation is ongoing, and that two helicopters were shot down, with some casualties. with ukraine helicopters or russian helicopters? >> those are ukraine helicopters. ukraine air force helicopters. there have been some pictures of the actual pilots of one of the helicopters that was wounded and taken for immediate help why the separatists. >> we saw some pictures of one of those pilots. effort onding this the ukrainian behalf? i mean, is the country really

flush enough to be buying helicopters and supporting an air force? >> no, i would not say that. the situation is obviously very tight in terms of resources. everybody knows the state of the ukraine army is quite critical. it is actually very interesting to see how the kiev authorities brought into the situation the oligarchs. the region is under the control of a very powerful oligarch, the third richest man in the country. he is funding the military operations, or the help the military could get to operate and to conduct their operation. >> we are looking at pictures of these soldiers wearing different uniforms. it looks like they collected

some hunting camera -- camo. s.me of them are toting ak' others have an over-under. it is not the forces we would expect russia to marshall. forces, localcal separatists, and so forth. the oligarch is helping with is the military efforts from the kiev authority. the pictures you are seeing are actually the forces from inside so beyond -- from inside the separatist area. the separatist force is a mixed bag. >> what does the ukraine want specifically from the west? >> can you repeat that? >> people in the ukraine -- what do they want from the u.s. in terms of aid? the opinionsy that

are still fairly fragmented. you have a general sense that the past regime, the regime of yanukovych, was corrupted, and it was a good thing to turn our back and turn the page on that regime. where the opinion stands right now -- i would say it is still fairly fragmented. the appeal of the european union is not something that brings consensus. there is still a strong attraction for russia, which is a cultural attractiveness. those two cultures were interleaved for quite some time. it is quite difficult to unweave that intricate relationship. >> dragon capital's peter bobrinsky, coming to us from kiev. we are waiting for the press

conference, president obama and angela merkel. journalists are hanging out in the rose garden, waiting to welcome the world leaders. you can watch it here if you are not headed over to the white house. and you can watch it pretty much anywhere online. if you have a device that accesses the internet, you can see bloomberg television, this live event. ♪

>> welcome back to "market makers." obama andbarack german chancellor angela merkel will address reporters any minute. white house reporter phil mattingly is standing by. what is your question for the leaders? i am sure they will pick you first. >> look at the operation that has been deployed by ukrainian forces today. that means there is a chance russian borders -- forces could come over the eastern border. my question on the sanctions --

are they ready to go today? are the country's unified right now? that is the big question of the day. as the operation continues, people are warily watching the eastern border. >> i want to get some perspective from alexander, at the asia group. let me ask you if russia is ready to invade. do you think vladimir putin is ready to go in now with military forces? >> so far, he has not had to invade to get what he wants. these production groups, russian nationalists, essentially make efensible forne und the government in ukraine. he has achieved what he wants without invading. >> do you think he can continue to achieve his goals without sending an actual military him? -- in?

>> there is some discussion about the extent to which there personneln operationally involved already. >> do you believe there are? >> i have no way of knowing. i am not there. but i believe there is some level of connection. the importance is to understand the cost of actually invading eastern ukraine. both europe and the united states have been very slow to move on existing sanctions, but have both signaled. we will see what happens in the press conference. if russia invades eastern ukraine, there will be as collations of sanctions against an already weak russian economy. and there is a high military cost of invading and occupying a massive swath of territory. if the population is not overwhelmingly supporting an invasion -- putin is getting what he wants through indirect methods for now. >> you have set a couple of

times "sectoral sanctions." what do you mean by that? >> if there is a move across the border from russian forces, the u.s. will attack entire sectors. the financial services sector -- they will sanction all companies involved in that sector. that includes defense and energy, as we understand it. if russian troops crossed the border, all of a sudden, i think allies or people that are pushing not to increase have had german and u.s. companies, companies throughout the eu, lobbying the administration not to deploy sectoral sanctions because of the hit they would take. you lose moral grounds as a company if you see thousands of russian troops streaming over the border. >> how does this affect the russian economy? >> the russian economy was in a bad way even before the ukrainian crisis. it is suffering, private and

public investment. you are seeing risks stemming from ukraine, possibly future sanctions, making it difficult for russian firms to attract fresh capital from the west. also, political rifts in russia -- the ukraine crisis has elevated some nationalism in russia that does not bode well domestic elliptical climate or domestic investment climate. >> why doesn't it? if you are russian, would you not be swung to vote for pruden or his allies now, because he has high approval ratings? wouldn't you be compelled to invest in russia? are russian, you want to support the home team, right? >> putin is doing a lot to try to bring russian oligarch capital back to russia, to make russia less formidable to western sanctions.

at the reality is that russia's economy will barely grow one percent -- barely grow 1% this year. it badly needs structural reforms. putin does not want to antagonize key constituencies. arean article this week says py much that. >> u.s. investors are searching for yield. they are circling russia, trying to say, is it the right time to step in? are things too dangerous right now? or are you seeing this is a yielding moment? >> people are looking at russia because they are cheap right now. from my perspective, the geopolitical risks in russia are extremely high right now. if that is your strategy, you have to be very -- have to have a very high tolerance for risk. >> we are going to take a quick break and come back. the president is typically, what, about 22 minutes late? >> angela merkel is on time.

>> usually, she is on time. >> i usually show up for hours late -- four hours late. quick that is like a concert. that kills me. ♪

obama and german chancellor angela merkel will address reporters any moment now. i would like to bring back white house correspondent phil mattingly, and alexander clement, an asia group expert on all things russia. we are going to see the president and chancellor merkel speak. what do you hope to hear from them? >> we talked about the likely response to an actual russian invasion of eastern ukraine. i think the big question for

chancellor merkel and president obama is, are they prepared to do more in response to the existing situation, which is not an out right invasion, but the use of proxy groups? >> is putin scared? to cramp his going style? >> the prospect of broad sanctions does make an impression. but the current level is obviously not exerting a deterrent effect on putin. pro-russian forces have expanded their control over points in eastern ukraine in recent days. we see violence spreading 20 deaths a -- spreading to odessa, in southern ukraine. thanwonder if we care more angela merkel does. germany has a great business relationship with russia. wentieve gerhard schroder

to work for a russian company after he was chancellor of germany. it seems that america has this , cold war,0's style leftover unhappiness, but no reason to be so worried. quickly direct economic interest in ukraine for the united states is not great. is alsode with russia not huge, although companies such as exxon mobil and boeing have important projects in russia. but it is important for foreign policy credibility. the u.s. has certain red lines. it committed to defending ukraine's territorial sovereignty. that credibility is important with respect to asia. president obama was reassuring asian partners and allies the u.s. would come to their defense in a situation in which chinese territorial ambitions seem to be growing. or is a broader repercussion that goes beyond ukraine and russia for the united states.

>> we seem to be spreading ourselves them. we are going to defend asian countries against china? we are going to defend the ukraine against russia? did the american people have the stomach for the kind of -- , in that stepping in big of away? anythingsee us doing that costs much money. how far do you think the president is going to go? >> we are never going to see boots on the ground. but matt brings up a good point. the american people are not for more action or activity in foreign countries right now. i think that plays a role in white house thinking. on foreign policy is something that has been net negative for the administration, internationally. we saw it in asia last week, through the asia-pacific region. each country needed assurances the u.s. would be there for territorial disputes.

those things go against one another -- public polling and the international perception. how the obama administration tries to mary that is difficult. that is difficult. >> the president will be on the podium in a few minutes. ♪

>> is 56 past the hour, which means bloomberg tv is on the

markets. time for today's options inside. the s&p is pulling back after a record high on the jobs report, a huge upside surprise. nonfarm payroll, 288,000 jobs added for the month of april, well above our survey. the unemployment rate coming down to 6.3%. the lowest labor force 1978.ipation rate since

joining me with a look at how the optionsthe s&p is pulling ba >> equity markets and the vix, little change. we are seeing treasury bond 30 and 32. it broke out. it is at 34, the target. earnings come out monday morning. ae options are pricing about 3.2% measured move.

we are seeing some activity, paper orders. we are seeing some joomla! -- calls, an30 optimistic view that gives it a little bit of time. july 32uly 30 two -- are pushingople options a little more expensive. astrazeneca rejected the latest bid from pfizer. starbucks -- what is your strategy? 90,tarbucks, the target is 20% higher than we are now. the in the money call options strategy i typically use -- taking a good stock using the option as a vehicle. volatility is at extreme lows.

theng an option instead of stock is a better value. o'keefe at the 62.5 call -- call, the the 62.5 break even is only a dollar higher, so it will trade well, even if the stock moves up 20%, the target. this option is going to do very well, as opposed to buying shares, it cost more money. and you have limited risk with an option. >> why is it the right time horizon? >> starbucks has stalled. very good performance, but it has gotten tired and not gone anywhere. i think it is a macroeconomic play. there is still a lot of room for expansion of starbucks. it might not seem like it, but they are getting into alcohol. that can change the game, when you can buy beer at starbucks.

>> starbucks will not be selling alcohol at some locations. why not an option closer to the money? >> i think something deep in the money will have a high delta, act like the stock. if you buy an out of the money option, it expires quickly. probability. the delta is about 80%. climb think it could higher. perhaps it has something to do with the fact they will start selling alcohol. we will be on the markets again in 30 minutes. ♪

welcome to "lunch money." i am adam johnson. macao and bets big on talks trash about actors. in technology, conspiracy, the story silicon valley does not want you to hear. investor adam warren buffett's big batch, we will introduce you to one of his biggest fans. love-hate's relationship with social media.